RIO DE JANEIRO – Gamely dodging most of Sam Sicilia’s wild striking, Rony Jason was successful in his first appearance since winning “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.”

After a heated exchange late in the second, Jason landed a flurry of strikes to the grounded vet of “The Ultimate Fighter Live” that prompted referee intervention in the third round.

The featherweight bout closed out the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC 153 event at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. It aired on FX following additional prelims on Facebook and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

The featherweights went big out of the gate, with Rony Jason throwing a head kick and Sicilia winging a punch. But in a subsequent exchange, Sicilia was rocked by a left hook and was forced to tie up. Resetting, Jason landed another punch inside, and Sicilia drove them to the mat.

Standing overhead, Sicilia landed a couple of big punches overhead as Jason worked to escape. A triangle attempt nearly surprised Sicilia before he pulled free, and after yet another premature standup from Fernando Yamasaki, the two were back on their feet.

With his hands nearly at his sides, Sicilia attempted to return the favor against Jason with big, winging shots. But Jason was far more accurate in the pocket and repeatedly cracked him with counters. In transition, Jason landed with a solid combination to end the first frame.

Sicilia continued to press in the second as Jason looked for counters. Using footwork to take the steam out of Sicilia’s advance, Jason dodged big shots. Sicilia had more luck as Jason stood his ground and got creative with lead elbows. Sicilia managed to find a home for a winging punch, but Jason landed big in return. Jason went to the body repeatedly, and caught a right hand.

Emboldened, the Brazilian caught Sicilia’s follow-up kick and landed a picture-perfect right hand counter that flattened his opponent. An elbow and hammerfists that prompted referee intervention at the 4:16 mark of the third round.

“I wanted to put on a show. I wanted to knock him out with a flying knee, but I didn’t land it quite perfectly,” Jason said. “He is a good opponent and I was surprised with how strong he is. His hands are very powerful. They would hurt wherever he’d hit me. I prepared so much for this. Now, I’m going to keep up what I’m doing.”

“I know he was a great fighter, and he caught me right off the bat,” Sicilia said. “He rose to the occasion tonight, and I didn’t. But I enjoyed the experience of fighting in Brazil. It’s huge – even the Brazilians would stop to give me high fives.”

In addition to back-to-back octagon wins, Jason (12-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) boasts seven straight victories. Sicilia (11-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC), meanwhile, is back to the drawing board after notching a second-round KO of Cristiano Marcello in his first post-TUF appearance.

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